Automated car wash systems permit a vehicle to be washed without requiring a driver to control the vehicle. Many automated car wash systems are configured to automatically traverse a vehicle through a tunnel or other enclosure with a conveyor system such that one or more washers can wash the vehicle as it passes by each of the washers. Traditionally, as the conveyor system traverses a vehicle through the tunnel of the automated car wash system, chemical dispensers, water dispensers, and brushes and other washers are programmed to function based on a timer (e.g., each performs its associated function after a certain amount of time has elapsed subsequent to the vehicle entering the tunnel). Such a timing function, however, fails to take into the size of the vehicle, which may result in excess or insufficient detergent or water being applied to a particular vehicle or may result in a washer, such as a brush, or a dryer failing to fully engage the vehicle (e.g., at least a portion of the vehicle is not washed with a brush) or a washer or dryer may be engaged when a vehicle is not positioned at an appropriate location, wasting energy. Similar misuse of materials or washing efforts may result from errors that may occur during the traversal of the vehicle through the tunnel, as described more fully below.
In some conveyorized automatic car wash systems, the conveyor system can simultaneously traverse two or more vehicles through the tunnel in series. Traditionally, automated car wash systems require a driver to control a vehicle to a conveyor track such that one or more wheels of the vehicle are aligned with a conveyor that transports the vehicle through the tunnel. Generally, once the wheels are appropriately aligned with the conveyor, a roller (or another device, such as a chock configured to traverse along the conveyer path) engages a wheel of the vehicle, the vehicle is shifted into the neutral gear such that the wheels of the vehicle can freely roll, and the roller then either pushes or pulls the tire along the conveyor path through the tunnel.
In such systems, however, there is potential for a vehicle to deviate from the path of the conveyor such that the conveyor can no longer traverse the vehicle through the tunnel. For example, a driver may turn the steering wheel while the vehicle is within the tunnel, which may cause the wheels of the vehicle to deviate from the conveyor path. As additional examples, a driver may engage the brakes of the vehicle or shift the vehicle to a gear other than neutral while the vehicle is within the tunnel, which may cause the wheels of the vehicle to disengage the roller. Further, vehicles including self-driving technology or auto-braking technology, which may be configured to detect upcoming objects and automatically engage the brakes of the vehicle, may sense the presence of one or more brushes or other washers of the automated car wash system and, in response, may automatically engage the brakes of the vehicle. Other scenarios may result in the vehicle wheel disengaging the roller or the conveyor otherwise becoming unable to traverse the vehicle through the tunnel. Regardless, if the conveyor is no longer controlling a vehicle, that vehicle is likely to be stopped or stuck within the tunnel, and a subsequent vehicle that is still being controlled by the conveyer and traversed through the tunnel is likely to collide with the stopped or stuck vehicle. Additionally, a vehicle may stall while in the tunnel such that the vehicle is unable to drive away from the exit of the tunnel once the conveyor is no longer traversing the vehicle. This may result in the vehicle being stopped at the exit of the tunnel just beyond the control of the conveyor, and the conveyor may still be traversing subsequent vehicles through the tunnel toward its exit. This may result in the conveyor system traversing a subsequent vehicle into the stopped vehicle, causing a collision, which could result in damage to one or both vehicles or to the automated car wash system or could even cause injury to the driver of one or both vehicles or to a bystander.
To avoid potential collisions, operators of automated car washes may decrease the speed of the conveyor system, may increase the distance between adjacent vehicles, or may even permit only a single vehicle to be present within the tunnel at any given time. However, these strategies result in decreased throughput for the automated car wash system, which can lead to decreased time efficiency and decreased profits for the automated car wash system and increased wait times for customers, which can lead to decreased customer satisfaction with the automated car wash system.
Further still, some automated car wash systems may include a camera-based monitoring system in which cameras are placed in the tunnel, and video recorded by the cameras is monitored to determine whether a vehicle collision has occurred. Camera-based monitoring systems, however, are unable to accurately determine the front and rear edges of a vehicle, as a camera's line of sight with respect to the vehicle is often interrupted by water jets, soap sprays, various types of brushes, and other visual obstacles included in the washers of the automated car wash system. Camera-based monitoring systems may be able to determine once a first collision has occurred and prevent subsequent collisions (an occurrence commonly referred to as a “pileup”). But because camera-based monitoring systems are typically unable to accurately determine the front edge or the rear edge of a vehicle as the vehicle is traversed through the tunnel during the wash process, such systems are generally unable to reliably provide sufficiently accurate or fast detection of a vehicle deviating from the conveyor path. In addition, the reliability of camera-based monitoring systems can be negatively impacted by the sprays, foams, chemicals, and moisture present in the tunnel of an automated car wash system as these and other elements can fog camera lenses, obfuscate visibility, or otherwise interfere with the ability of the camera-based monitoring system to monitor vehicles in the tunnel. These and other factors can result in camera-based monitoring systems being unable to reliably prevent collisions in the first instance.